“A bet?” Wally asked.
“Mm.
It’s nothing complicated.
Altaria still bears a grudge against me and refuses to entrust its Swablu to my care.
But I can’t give up on my research into Swablu, so I agreed to find a Trainer with outstanding potential to raise it.
At first, I chose Joy, but now I’ve changed my choice to you.”
“Me?” Wally was stunned.
“Yes,” Professor Birch said.
“For a girl like Joy, who has grown up in a large family, this trial would still be rather difficult.
But for you, there should at least be a glimmer of hope.”
“As long as you can take Swablu’s Egg, successfully hatch it, and gain its mother’s approval together with Swablu within one month, you will have completed the trial.”
“For this entire month, you will stay here alone.
I’ll prepare enough food and basic supplies for you to live for a while.
After that, you’ll have to face the environment of Mt.
Chimney entirely on your own.
During this period, you cannot bring any other Pokémon with you.
You can only rely on Swablu…
and each other.
That is Altaria’s condition.”
Professor Birch said this while feeling that Altaria’s condition was rather shameless himself.
But the moment he thought about his experiment, he stopped caring about such things.
Upon hearing this, Wally’s brain practically shut down.
You’ve got to be kidding me!
He was supposed to survive here alone for an entire month?
That was practically asking him to die!
Forget about the aggressive Pokémon that might be lurking around.
The sheer boredom alone could drive him to despair.
And more importantly, that wasn’t even the end of it.
He still had to earn Altaria’s approval?!
“Looks like they’ve had enough of their fight.
Now it’s your turn.”
Even though Wally was standing on the ground, he could still feel the intense fluctuations from the battle raging high above them.
Wally raised his head.
Slowly, he saw Altaria and Pidgeot descend from the sky.
Eventually, they landed in front of the two of them.
“Long time no see.”
Professor Birch greeted Altaria, but Altaria paid him no attention.
Instead, it turned its gaze toward Wally.
“He’s the Trainer I’ve chosen…” Professor Birch said calmly.
“As you requested, I’ve brought you someone to undergo the trial.
From now on, he’ll raise your offspring through a one-month trial.
Don’t worry.
I guarantee you, as a Master Breeder, that your descendant will never disgrace your bloodline.
Its growth will astonish you.”
Altaria was a proud and elegant Pokémon.
After mating with Pidgeot, however, it had no idea that Pidgeot had already been caught by someone else and had consequently become part of Professor Birch’s scheme…
Only after everything had already become a fait accompli did Professor Birch appear before Altaria.
A confrontation followed.
When Professor Birch failed to obtain the Egg, the two sides eventually fought, and the bet was established after their battle.
In the end, Altaria hadn’t completely fallen out with Pidgeot.
It merely resented the fact that Pidgeot hadn’t told it about the situation beforehand.
Altaria let out a long cry and turned its head away.
Understanding what it meant, Professor Birch immediately said to Wally, “Are you ready?
You still have the option of refusing.”
Refuse?
At this point, how could Wally possibly refuse?
“What am I supposed to do?” Wally glanced at Altaria before asking Professor Birch.
“It’s simple.
Come back with me first.
By this time tomorrow, everything will be ready.
That’s when your one-month wilderness survival trial will begin.”
The preparations consisted of Wally leaving his Poké Balls behind, taking only emergency supplies and food, and then returning here alone.
For one month, Wally would not only have to successfully hatch Swablu, but also act as its Trainer and raise it into a stronger Pokémon.
Through this, he would earn Altaria’s acknowledgment.
Originally, Professor Birch had wanted to catch Swablu himself.
But Altaria’s stubborn temperament had left him with no choice but to abandon that plan.
As a result, Professor Birch settled for the next best option and brought Wally in to complete the bet for him.
His primary purpose was simply to verify and study the results of his research.
Although it was regrettable that he couldn’t catch Swablu himself, for someone of Professor Birch’s standing, that was no longer particularly important.
At present, his eyes were focused solely on his obsession with researching new discoveries.
“Whether this inheritance across generations succeeds or not will depend entirely on you, Wally.”
Professor Birch spoke solemnly, and he was nervous as well.
He couldn’t guarantee whether Swablu would be able to inherit the moves of its mother and Pidgeot.
“Dragon Ascent…
The other moves don’t matter.
As long as it can master this move, it’ll prove that Swablu’s Dragon-type potential has been fully activated.”
On the private plane, Professor Birch explained the precautions Wally needed to take, as well as the key points of the experiment.
Normally, the chances of inheriting a move like Dragon Ascent were already extremely low, even if Altaria were to mate with Dragonite again and produce another offspring.
The chances were even smaller in this case, since this was inheritance across generations.
As for whether the medicine Professor Birch had prepared would actually work, he himself was extremely concerned about the result.
This Altaria was the ruler of Mt.
Chimney.
According to Professor Birch, even compared with Pokémon trained by members of the Elite Four, Altaria’s strength would not be inferior.
His Pidgeot was somewhat weaker than Altaria, so Wally still had a long and difficult road ahead of him if he wanted to earn Altaria’s approval.
The reason Professor Birch hadn’t immediately sent Wally to undergo the trial was that he still needed to teach him some knowledge about training moves, raising young Pokémon, hatching Pokémon Eggs, and better stimulating a Pokémon’s potential.
Fortunately, Wally’s learning speed was fast enough to keep up with Professor Birch’s instruction.
For Professor Birch, this bet was extremely important.
During the process of Wally training Swablu, he would also be able to verify the results of his research.
How far Swablu could progress within one month, and how much of its potential it could unleash, were matters Professor Birch cared deeply about.
Now that he had an outstanding Breeder like Wally, one of Professor Birch’s long-standing concerns could finally be put to rest.
As for this bet, if he wasn’t going to carry it out himself, there were certainly many young Trainers with enough potential to satisfy Altaria’s requirements.
However, one way or another, they still wouldn’t have met his own standards.
Wally’s appearance had indeed given Professor Birch hope.
…
…
After spending the entire night preparing, Wally firmly memorized all the precautions Professor Birch had given him.
He had also memorized the general layout of the area.
Once he ventured into this place, he would inevitably encounter aggressive Pokémon.
At the beginning, Wally could expect to have difficulty taking even a single step.
Fortunately, the nutrient solution Professor Birch had prepared could accelerate the hatching of the Pokémon Egg as quickly as possible.
Inside an elongated container was an ample amount of pale-blue nutrient solution.
Professor Birch had personally formulated this liquid based on the characteristics of Altaria and Pidgeot.
It was designed to stimulate the potential of this new life as efficiently as possible.
That was also the primary factor that this trial was intended to verify.
If Wally successfully completed this trial, he would not only be able to enter the Pokémon Academy, the cradle of geniuses, but the new life that had endured a month of hardships alongside him—the exceptionally talented Swablu that Professor Birch had described—would also become his Pokémon once they gained Altaria’s approval.